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Advice please! Helping a Viburnum & Laurel Shrub to grow

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  • 14-07-2022 1:52pm
    #1
    bobbyss
    Registered Users Posts: 5,222 ✭✭✭


    Amateur gardener here looking for advice.

    I planted a viburnum and laurel shrub a few years ago. (The laurel is a shrub I think, not a tree).

    I took a cutting from an old viburnum that I have and planted it. I was impressed with the old one as it is dense, seems weather proof and fast growing. I butcher it every year and it still keeps on coming. As I need both to grow as fast as possible for privacy issues I water them quite regularly and both are doing well.

    A few questions.

    1 Is there any plant/shrub/(tree?) food I can give them to even further the speed of growth?

    2 When is the best time to trim them as I want them both to be more upright than broad to cover an overlooking window.

    Than you in advance.



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    #2
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,429 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    When did you plant the cuttings? Are they showing signs of new growth? If they are well established you could give them a one-off feed of shrub fertilizer, once a year (A general one, or maybe a rose one if you have it). You could mulch them with wood chip or dry grass clippings to help keep them moist. Beyond that all you can do is wait. If you overfeed them you risk soft floppy growth that will not improve the shrub. Keep watering them.

    You could trim them now to encourage the shape you want, you won't damage either of them they are both tough, though if you cut the viburnum late in the spring you will cut off the flowers.



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    #3
    bobbyss
    Registered Users Posts: 5,222 ✭✭✭bobbyss


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119337730#Comment_119337730

    About three years ago I planted both and they are both doing fine. I have no complaints as to their growth. I am very pleased with it. In these hot days I water them every other day. It is just that I have an overlooking window from the gable end of a house and I need them to just get up there as fast as possible. However, I think now that i will just let them be and let nature take its curse.



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    #4
    Jim_Hodge
    Registered Users Posts: 10,686 ✭✭✭✭Jim_Hodge


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119337890#Comment_119337890

    You cab feed to help them but they won't reach a height any quicker, they'll just be healthier if the soil is lacking. Pruning of both is for shape only.



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